RICHMOND – Virginia’s school superintendents say that former Gov. Bob McDonnell’s budget plan to increase public education funding looks good on the surface, “it is far short of adequate.”
The school chiefs issued a statement last month in reaction to the outgoing governor’s proposal for an additional $515.3 million in education money for the next two years.

Galax Elementary School students showed off their computer skills this year for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE), earning many of them spots in this year’s Student Technology Integration Challenge (STIC).

Students from Shannon Wilson’s technology classes were first-, second- and third-place winners, according to a news release.

“My goal is for my students to realize that these programs are useful in everyday life,” Wilson told The Gazette.

INDEPENDENCE — Grayson County School Board will seek to replace Grayson County High School football field’s bleachers using leftover grant funds from the school’s recent athletic field and facilities renovation project.
The board also plans to use some of the funding for various other needs around the schools.

HILLSVILLE — Though bids for the new sciences lab at Carroll High came in high, Carroll officials still hope to pay for it through money already available for school improvements.
Soon after the addition of several new classrooms to house the ninth grade at the high school, county officials and educators embarked on a project to replace the four-decades-old heating and air conditioning system and supplying natural gas to the facility to fuel the boilers there.

INDEPENDENCE — The Grayson County School Board has pledged its support to a movement gaining momentum across the state that calls for changes in Virginia’s testing system.
Grayson joins more than 45 other school boards and representatives of 12 major education associations in Virginia who have adopted a resolution calling for state policymakers to change Virginia’s system of testing and accountability so that it is more effective in preparing students for college and careers and more valid in holding educators accountable for student achievement.

NORFOLK — The fate of a new statewide entity with the task of fixing underperforming schools is up in the air thanks to a slate of new elected state officials and a lawsuit working its way through the courts.
A nine-member board has been appointed. An executive director earning $125,000 a year is in place. Still, few people — including those appointed to guide the system — seem to know much about its next steps.

Galax Elementary educators felt grateful for a recent warm December day to get an early start on their new teaching garden.
Many of the participating students wore jackets while helping dig out the first shovelful of dirt in “The Grateful Garden of Galax” behind the school, even though the temperature seemed to hover around the 60s.

HILLSVILLE — While Southwest Virginia Governor’s School officials contemplate an expansion of their program, Carroll educators wonder if they can reignite their students’ interest in the special math and science curriculum in Pulaski.
Sherry Pugh, assistant director and math teacher, represented the governor’s school before the Carroll County School Board at its Nov. 12 meeting while sharing the expansion proposal.

By SHAINA STOCKTON, Staff
School officials, parents and students are joining together in a proactive effort to keep inappropriate reading materials out of the Galax High School library.
Schools Superintendent Bill Sturgill, GHS parent Lynn Funk and GHS honor student Maggie Turbyfill — three members of the newly-formed Galax Library Book Committee — explained in a group meeting on Tuesday that their efforts were not to shield students from difficult topics, but to offer the student body books that deal with these topics the right way.